Meet T. J. Wheeler: Blues musician, Educator and Master of the Diddley Bow

Have you ever heard what a diddley bow can really do? If not, keep reading.

I first got to know T. J. Wheeler back in the summer of 2008. I was at a blues festival up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with my wife and some friends, and to get out of the sun I ducked into a tent that was set up off the main stage. The sign said something about a blues history demonstration. I had very recently discovered cigar box guitars and handmade instruments, so I thought it could be worth a look.

T. J.'s talk on the history and origins of the blues was very interesting, but it was when he pulled out his diddley bow that I really got interested. I had started my own handmade music explorations with a one-string canjo, and had quickly decided (incorrectly, as it turned out) that there just wasn't much that one string could do. Yet here was a blues musician with an even more primitive one-string instrument, and he was going to play it for us.

He plugged that diddley bow into a little amp, took up his slide and set to work, and I was captivated. 

He made that single string talk! And not just talk, he made it moan, wail, cry and sing. My eyes were opened to the possibilities of the single string, and what it could do in the hands of a master.

T. J. has been a performing musician since the early 1960's, and it was at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1976 that he first saw a diddley bow. The great Lonnie Pitchford was playing one onstage at the festival, and T. J. says he was immediately entranced by it. Still, it wasn't until 17 years later, after seeing a historical presentation on diddley bows at a blues society conference, that he decided to try building his own. His attempts at DIY didn't yield quite what he wanted, so he got a luthier friend to build him two plank diddley bows - and for the last 22 years, they have been a regular part of his stage shows and educational work in the schools.

Through his educational work through the "Blues in the Schools" program and others, T. J. has worked with upwards of half a million students, teaching them about the history of the blues and the musical instruments used to make the music - including the diddley bow. He has traveled all over the country, spending a good bit of time in his earlier years busking on streets. He has served on the boards of most of the biggest blues societies, was the personal friend of blues giants like Bukka White and Furry Lewis, and a regular participant in panels and presentations at blues conferences. This man has seen, played and lived the blues for most of his life.

I am honored to now be in a position where C. B. Gitty can work with T. J. to help further the educational side of his mission, as well as to introduce him to the cigar box guitar and handmade music movements. He has been out there on the streets spreading the word about handmade and homemade instruments like the diddley bow for over twenty years, and there is no better way to open peoples' eyes to this amazing little instrument than by playing it like T. J. does. Check out the two videos below if you need proof.